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Carpathians is a True Rural Green Tourism Area – Mountain Villages Offer you a Different Vacation

admin — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 18:34:38 +0000

Village Homestays in the Carpathians, Ukraine.

This type of tourism combines two positive features, low price and the comfort of feeling home instead of living at a hotel.

The rural green tourism Association of Ivano-Frankivsk offers this type of opportunity. Offering stays as low as 3 USD/night and updwards, really makes this an attractive offer. In addition the hosts offering their homes for you as visitor, really wants your visit because they want visitors, and not necessarily your money.

The setting is perfect with deep green spruce forests, mountain top meadows filled with aromatic grasses and flowers, serene Alpine lakes of the rocky Chornohora high peak range, sparkling streams and waterfalls fed by melting snow, gentle hills rolling off into the horizon – all these are elements of the Carpathian natural world. The landscape is characterized by mountains with broad rounded tops, that are often covered with meadows. Valleys, up to 1200 m deep, intersect mountain ridges and provide shelter for villages. The highest peak in Ukraine, Hoverla (2061 m, 6762 ft) is found in the Chornohora ridge.

Fifteen homes in the six villages named Vorokhta, Kryvopole, Krasnyk, Verkhovyna, Kryvorivna and Yavorivare currently featured on their list of homes to use during your stay in this region.

Vorokhta is a nice center for winter sports in Ukraine as itt has a high ski jump complex used for Olympic athletes training. It is a popular place for Cross-country and downhill skiing and several chair lifts (the longest 2km long) in operation during the winter makes it easy accessible for alpine skiing.

Easy access to Vorokhta with the train station in center of city.

Fir trees are in majority to broadleaf trees here since the elevations are moderately higher (800-900 m.) The wilder parts of the Carpathian National Park are located to the south of the village which provide interesting hiking opportunities. There is a large lumber mill on the edge of town which gives the town a run-down look.

There are some interesting sights: one of the oldest standing wooden Hutsul churches built in 1615, a newer wooden church with a unique style and colored ornamentation, and a large stone arch railroad bridge (one of the largest of its kind in Europe) built in 1894 back when Austria controlled the area.

The town of Verkhovyna is located in a valley along the Cheremosh River. It was one of the largest and most important Hutsul settlements. The writer Ivan Franko, called it the Hutsul capital. Verkhovyna is not along the road to anywhere and it feels more remote. The road that leads to Verkhovyna which is 150 km from Ivano-Frankivsk, is very picturesque either through Kosiv or Vorokhta. Since the road must wind through mountain passes makes it an exiting trip in itself. The valley lies at an 575 m height and is surrounded by mountains, excellent for day hikes: Mt Pushkar (812 m), Mt Mahurka (1025 m), Mt Synytsia (1186 m), and Mt Bila Kobyla (1473 m). Mushrooms can be found along Pushkar and Mahurka while wild berries can be found on Synytsia and Bila Kobyla. Along Mt Synystia one can find the “Dovbush Cliffs”.

The Gorgany region of the Carpathians has a rugged topography. The region, which is located approximately between Yaremche and Mizhiria, is characterized by deep valleys, steep mountainsides and mountaintops that are covered with boulder and rock fields. This territory was difficult to settle and to this day, parts of it remain a wilderness. The extensive forest consiting of fir and spruce, is a valuable natural resource. At the turn of the century an extensive network of narrow gage rails was constructed to facilitate extraction of timber. Today these lay abandoned.

To the south, characteristic features of the mountains are the mountaintop meadows or “polonynas”. The fragrances of sedges, rushes, grasses and wildflowers combine to produce the cool aromatic breezes of the polonynas. Over the past several hundred years the Hutsuls utilized these high altitude meadows as pastures for grazing herds of sheep.

The highest elevations of the Carpathians are found in the Chornohora mountain massif. This massive ridge extends for 40 km and consists of a series of peaks that rise above the treeline: Mt Petros (2020 m), Mt Hoverla (2061 m), Mt Turkul (1933 m), Mt Munchel (1998 m), and Mt Pip Ivan (2020 m). Two picturesque alpine lakes – Marichejka and Nesamovyta are also found here. Beech forests are found on northern facing slopes up to 1300 m elevation, while on southern slopes they grow at somewhat higher elevations. Above this, a forest belt consisting of spruce is found up to 1800 m. Above the forest limit lies a zone of dwarf pine, juniper brush, rhododendron and other bushes. The mountain tops consist of the polonyna meadows or boulder and rock fields. For centuries this frontier land formed the border between the states that occupied Galicia and Transcarpathia. At the southeast end of Chornohora, on the mountain Pip Ivan, a large astronomical observatory was built by a Polish and French partnership. This large structure has long been abandoned and has the appearance of a mountaintop castle ruin. Today, most of the Chornohora region is protected by the state. The northern part is territory of the Carpathian National Park, while the southern part is territory of the Carpathian Biosphere Reserve.

The Hutsul Alps, also called the Marmarosky massif, are more extreme in appearance than the typical gentle contours of the Ukrainian Carpathians. These mountains have pointed peaks, steep slopes, deep valleys, and sharp edged glacial features that distinguish themselves as the only part of the Ukrainian Carpathians with an Alp-like appearance. The major peaks are Mt Pip Ivan (1937 m), Mt Farcau (1958 m), and Mt. Mykhailyk (1918 m). There is a different Mt Pip Ivan located in Chornohora. Because of the extreme conditions here, this region is sparsely settled and rich spruce forests cover the mountains slopes below the rocky tops. The village Bohdan is the closest settlement to these mountains and only 10 km to the south is the Romanian border. The Chyvchyn mountains to the east are lower in elevation but also distinct from the rest of the Ukrainian Carpathians since, like the Marmarosky massif, they are made of hard crystalline schists.

The Red Square

admin — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 07:31:18 +0000

The Red Square is the most famous square in all of Russia and one of the most famous in the world next to Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Currently separates the Russian government headquarters: The Kremlin and from there leave the main streets of Moscow, which later become highways that run throughout the country. Looking from above Red Square seems as if the center of all Russia, from where they leave all avenues that traverse the vast Russian territory.

Square Segú many historians there since the fourteenth century, and was ordered built by Ivan III, he did destroy all the buildings that were in place to build because of the need for an open space in central Moscow where public acts and also served as a market and center of Moscow. The other excuse was that buildings of that time were very old and made of wood, so it burned easily.

The name of Red Square is one of the most repeated questions that tourists visiting the city. Although it may seem otherwise, is not due to the color of the building, or due to the communist red. In truth derives from a Russian word meaning “red”, but in the ancient language means “beautiful.” Another belief is that red blood is shed in public executions that were carried out previously.

The most important monuments that are in Red Square are the paticular, the monument to Lenin and the graves of Russians very popular as Stalin or Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space. But if there is a building that stands out above all, that is the cathedral of St. Basil, known throughout the world for its distinctive architecture and recognized as the image of Red Square.

St. Basil’s Cathedral was ordered built by Czar Ivan the Terrible to commemorate the conquest of Kazan in 1555. His work was so celebrated that his eyes started ordered the architect to build a work could not be beaten. The name is due to its construction took place over the grave of St. Basil the Blessed.

As the last major building in Red Square, we can highlight the GUM store, one of the largest malls in Russia, which was inaugurated in 1893.

You can find more information about St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow taxi, and the red square in the wikipedia.

The Siberian

admin — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 06:48:51 +0000

The Siberian is one of those trips that we sound like a mythical tale of legend. The Siberian is a railway network connecting Moscow with the Russian Far East, China and Mongolia. The Siberian is an incredible piece of engineering that stretches across Russia.

The main route linking Moscow with Vladivostok Siberian, Russia’s easternmost city, which also lies on the Sea of Japan. The route between two cities is an amazing route through eight time zones and has a duration of 7 days of travel.

The Siberian is the longest continuous railway route in the world and was opened in 1904. It has since evolved, and now there are two major branches: The Trans-, and transmanchuriano, which connect to Mongolia and China respectively.

When planning the trip is necessary to plan well Siberian stages. The more complete Transsib page, which is available in Russian, German and English. If you’re traveling in one of its trains you to know that there are two types of seats: soft, upholstered seating and hard, which are plastic or leather. These two types of passages are convertible into beds to sleep in the night travel. The compartments have 2 or 4 soft berths, while the hard consist of four compartments there is simply no beds or compartments.

For more information about visas, tips, anecdotes typical preparations and you can find in a Siberian trip valentinWorld we advise you visit a page with experiences of a trip like this. On the website of Asfaru also include lots of information and resources on the Trans-Siberian (Travel agencies, travelers’ personal pages, etc.).